Wowie Zowie

Couple shoutouts need to come first today:

Jason Rodriguez is not taking Kirkman's "You Suck" article lying down. The man behind my favorite blog and the editor of one of the best indie comics in years has a different message - "You Just Need to Work a Little Bit", so to speak. Insane goddamn gentleman he is, he's essentially offering his expertise for free. Just to help set an example for aspiring writers, he's throwing the doors open on editing and pitching and writing great stories. Fans of Larry Young's True Facts are strongly advised to take a look at this.

Speaking of AiT, Swiss-army-knife-of-comics Josh Richardson has been hooking us all up with In The Trenches entries like a maniac lately ON TOP OF taking control of the AiT-PlanetLar website, with daily updates. Josh tells me the AiT thing is gonna be a total blast, so I'm looking forward to what he does with it. Josh is, I discovered, a creative executive at AiT these days, and working The Isotope while he's at it. The man is an unstoppable juggernaut of comics power.

Boy, what a week it's been. Got my first "weekend" in like two months on Thursday and Friday last week, got to head out and see...



...which I fucking LOVED. One or two subplots that could have been cut entirely (did ANYBODY give a shit about ol' Hayes and Jimmy?), but what a story. I laughed, I marveled, I cried (just a tear or two, but what can I say?--that was an emotional goddamn ending). The Big Fight was a thrill that left me giddy and smiling. The special effects... well, words fail. They've taken the best part of the LOTR movies (which, of course, was Gollum) and made a whole movie with it, like I wanted them to do in the first place. Kong is incredible. Kong's performance is incredible. The monster design, at the bottom of the valley when the bugs all attack, especially, is unbelievable. So cherry. Basically, as a kid who grew up on the 1933 original (all time classic), I gotta give this puppy the BIG FAT TWO THUMBS UP.

You know what else gets a hearty and happy oath of approval from Quality Control? My bitchin' new Usagi Yojimbo calendar!





Man, I am loving this thing. Stan Sakai is one of our heroes.

You know what's really cool? My profession. I'm loving this whole bartending thing. Last night I was working my usual Sunday afternoon shift at Kimo's and by pure fucking chance, in walk my best work buddies from both Aziza and the City Club. Manuel, Denise, Adam and I had a blast. It's pretty cool to have your work friends in particular come check out your other scenes. I probably got in some trouble pouring the drinks for 'em heavy and free, but shit - what the hell good is a job like that one if I can't get into trouble treating my friends right once in a while? Ha!

Anyway, I'm feeling nicely rejuvenated from my holiday insanity and still can't wait for what 2006 has coming down the pike.

Life is fucking sweet.